1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an illumination light supply system for supplying users with illumination light.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are variety of types of illumination equipment that are made for various environments or purposes. There are lamps specifically made for illuminating room spaces in houses, offices or the like. There are also lamps specifically made for illuminating outdoor spaces such as roads, parks, sports facilities or the like.
Such illumination equipment are achieved by high-discharge lamps such as metal halide lamps or high pressure mercury lamps, electrodeless discharge lamps, fluorescent lamps, incandescent lamps, or light source lamps that emit light using electric energy. However, all these lamps have a limited lifetime. As a result, every time a lamp fails due to the limited lifetime, the user needs to replace it with a new one.
This task can be burdensome to many users. Especially, replacing lamps attached to high ceilings or street lamps, which can be a difficult task.
Also, users sometimes feel like changing the particular lighting atmosphere. Such a demand is especially strong among users of interior rooms.
However, it is difficult for users of ordinary illumination equipment to change the lighting atmosphere without replacing the lamps. As a result, changing the lighting atmosphere variously in accordance with users"" requests is difficult in reality.
The first object of the present invention is therefore to provide an illumination light supply system that can save users from the task of replacing defective light source lamps with proper ones, enabling the users to use illumination light over an extended time period.
The second object of the present invention is to provide an illumination light supply system that can easily change the lighting atmosphere as requested by the user.
The first object is fulfilled by an illumination light supply system, comprising: a light source unit that generates and outputs light; light transfer means that transfers the light output from the light source unit to a user; and an illumination unit that radiates the transferred light into a space for the user.
Note that in the above description, the xe2x80x9cuserxe2x80x9d refers to (a) a person (household) who directly uses the illumination light or (b) a manager of a facility where the illumination light is used.
The illumination light supply system is managed by a xe2x80x9csupplierxe2x80x9d who supplies users with the illumination light. If, for example, a lamp used in the light source unit goes out, the supplier must replace the defective lamp with an appropriate one. Here, the xe2x80x9csupplierxe2x80x9d refers to a person, a municipality, or a company that supplies users with the illumination light.
With the above-described construction, the light source unit outputs light over an extended time period, and the light is transferred to the user by the light transfer means and emitted into a space by the illumination unit. As a result, the illumination light supply system saves users from the task of replacing defective light source lamps with proper ones, enabling the users to use illumination light over an extended time period.
The above illumination light supply system may further comprise charging means for charging the user for illumination light the user has used, and the charging means may include: a light amount measuring unit that measures an amount of light transferred by the light transfer means to the user; and a storage unit that stores and accumulates the measured amount of light to have information of an accumulated amount of light, wherein the charging means charges the user an illumination light usage charge in accordance with the accumulated amount of light stored in the storage unit.
With the above-described construction, the user is supposed to pay a usage fee to the supplier, where the usage fee is determined in accordance with the accumulated amount of light for the user.
The above objects are fulfilled by an illumination light supply system, comprising: two or more light source units that generate and output lights of different colors; mixing means for mixing the lights output from the two or more light source units; adjustment means for adjusting an amount of light supplied from each light source unit to the mixing means; light transfer means for transferring the mixed light output from the mixing means to a user; and an illumination unit that radiates the transferred light into a space for the user.
The above objects are also fulfilled by an illumination light supply system, comprising: two or more light source units that generate and output lights of different colors; light transfer means for transferring the lights of different colors output from the two or more light source units to a user; a mixing means for mixing the lights transferred by the light transfer means; adjustment means for adjusting an amount of each of the lights transferred by the light transfer means; and an illumination unit that radiates the mixed light into a space for the user.
With either of the above-described constructions, both the first and second objects of the present invention are fulfilled. That is to say, the illumination light supply system can easily change the lighting atmosphere as requested by the user.